CHINO - The outcry against conditions at a slaughterhouse here grew Tuesday with demands for immediate reimbursement of money spent by schools on the company's beef, the target of the largest such recall in U.S. history.

The chairman of the state Senate Select Committee on Food-borne Illness, Dean Florez, D-Shafter, said cash-strapped schools should not suffer because of the recall.

At the same time, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger offered the state's help to investigate what he said could represent "one of the worst violations of food safety laws in the country and one of the most egregious cases of animal cruelty I've ever seen."

A Pomona man has been arrested and another man was being sought on charges of animal cruelty that led to Sunday's voluntary recall of 143million pounds of frozen beef produced by the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co.

The company is one of the largest suppliers of ground beef to the National School Lunch Program.

The company's troubles began with the release last month of a video taken by an undercover Humane Society employee.

San Bernardino County prosecutors say the video shows what appears to be Westland/Hallmark workers using inhumane methods to move cows too sick or injured to stand in the slaughter line.

Men are seen jabbing cows with forklift blades, poking a cow in the eye with a stick and spraying another in the nose and mouth with a high-pressure water hose.

Speaking at a news conference on the state budget crisis Tuesday, Gov. Schwarzenegger described the video as shocking.

"I think it is horrendous and outrageous when you look at the footage on television of the way these animals were treated," he said. "I mean this is animal cruelty, and I am absolutely against it."

Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction, joined the public outcry Tuesday, saying school districts will be notified on the proper way of destroying recalled beef.

Districts will also receive a form needed to seek reimbursement from the National School Lunch Program.

"Our understanding is that the California Department of Education would then expedite our reimbursement to schools that incurred expenses in paying for National School Lunch Program food that then had to be destroyed," O'Connell said.

"Our Nutrition Services Division will work closely with the school districts to seek reimbursement as quickly as possible."

About half of California's nearly 6.3million students qualify for free or reduced-priced meals. California schools serve 4million such meals a day to students, including breakfast and lunch.

In addition to announcing legislation calling for schools to be reimbursed, Florez has scheduled a committee hearing on the recall next week.

How the money lost because of the recall would be repaid under Florez's legislation is unclear.

But on its Web site, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it will "pursue every avenue available to reimburse (states) for the value of products in the federal food and nutrition program that must be destroyed due to the recall."

When it announced the recall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the cows involved were inspected and declared safe before being slaughtered.

Daniel Ugarte Navarro of Pomona was released from jail Sunday morning after posting $75,000 bail. The 48-year-old former slaughterhouse pen manager was charged Friday with felony animal abuse and misdemeanor counts of illegally moving crippled cows.

He could face more than eight years in prison if convicted as charged. Navarro is scheduled to be arraigned March 24.

A warrant has been issued for former slaughterhouse worker Luis Sanchez of Chino.

Westland/Hallmark fired both men after the video became public. The company declined comment.

Prosecutors say it appears the men were trying to force "downer" cows to their feet for slaughter.